


did i grow up according to plan?

by charjace



Series: Problem Child ; JATP [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen, Parental Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charjace/pseuds/charjace
Summary: I'm never gonna be good enough forYou can't pretend that I'm alrightAnd you can't change me
Series: Problem Child ; JATP [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071917
Kudos: 11





	did i grow up according to plan?

**Author's Note:**

> based on Perfect by Simple Plan

Growing up, it seemed like he could do no wrong. He was loving his life, playing with his siblings and laughing along with his friends as his parents watch along with big smiles upon their lips. When he would scrap his knee, his mother would hold him in a hug and press a soft kiss to his head as she places a plaster on the cut. Smiling down at her son as she sends him back off to play with his friends after wiping away his tears.

The year he asked for a drum set, his parents got him it for his birthday that year – and they found out together that it helped him with the anxiety that builds up inside of him. It seemed like, they would love him forever, that there was nothing that would  _ break _ their love for him – but, oh how wrong could he be.

His parents love did seem to have a limit, as Alex found out when he was fifteen years old. He had been battling with dealing with it in his own head, he’d seen how kids could be, how  _ others _ could be when a boy didn’t like girls – when they liked boys instead. It made it hard for Alex to come to terms with these thoughts and feelings in his head and heart. So, one night – he sat his parents down, and told them.

Alex liked boys, he was  _ gay _ \- he was so nervous about it all, and his mother had rested her hand on his, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Alex, sweetie, what’s going on?” She asks, her voice so sweet, and full of love and concern as she looks at her son.

“We love you son,” His father says, worry in his eyes when Alex looks at him.

“I’m gay,” Alex manages to say out into the open, and the room went silent and his mother retracts her hand, holding it close to her chest – almost as if she were burnt. It was so quiet, they could hear the TV his siblings were watching in the other room, they were laughing – but in the kitchen it was dead silent as the worry vanished from his parents faces.

“Eighteen,” His father says.

“What?” Alex asks confused, looking towards his father. He was trying to hold back  tears.

“Eighteen, when you turn eighteen, if you still believe yourself to be _ one of them _ , you have to leave. No exception. We’ll feed you, pay for what you  _ need _ only until you turn eighteen, then you are to never come back, and don’t ever speak of this to your siblings. When you leave, you will  simply _ lose touch _ with us,” His father spoke formally, before walking out of the kitchen.

Alex broke down crying at the table, while his mother stood up and started to cook dinner as if her child wasn’t crying at the table. No kiss to make him feel better, no promise of anything and no love left for him just because of who  _ he _ loves.

Wiping at his eyes, Alex stands up from the table and walks out, saying he’ll be at Luke’s if they need him. Putting on a façade for his siblings, his parent  don’t tell him that dinner will be ready soon, they just let him leave. They no longer care and it hurts him inside. 

Luke doesn’t live far from him, so it doesn’t take long and he knocks on the Patterson’s door, he knows they most likely will be having dinner, but he just needed someone. When the door opens, Emily smiles at him, but it falters slightly at seeing his red eyes and she ushers him into the home and towards the dining table where Luke was setting up the plates. Emily tells him to get another plate, and he does so before taking a seat next to his friend.

After dinner, the pair of friends go into Luke’s room, where Alex breaks down crying again after being silent all through dinner, only saying a quiet thank you to Emily. Luke holds onto him, and he sobs into his friend’s shoulder, “T-They hate me.”

“Who does?” Luke questions as he wraps his arms tighter around his friend. 

“My parents. I-I'm not their perfect little boy anymore,” Alex manages to get out with very little stumbling, “I told them.”

“Oh...” This makes Luke hold on as tight as possible, wanting to let it known that he was there for his friend, “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. I love you, Reggie and Bobby do too. Okay.”

They stayed that way until Emily knocked softly on the door, asking if Alex was staying over – and Luke answered it for him, saying he was. Emily smiled and said she’d call his parents just to let them know, and left them to it, asking them both to go to bed at a decent time as they have school tomorrow.

Going home was hard, it was just  _ cold _ in his house. His parents stopped talking to him unless they needed too, they smile, but he can see it doesn’t reach their eyes. They’re faking it, for the sake of the family, but Alex knows. He knows deep down, that once those words were uttered out of his mouth, that things would never be the way they were. His parents no longer love him, and nothing he can do will make it better. He no longer fits their perfect little mold.


End file.
